Job cuts, salary reductions, mandated
furloughs, foreclosures and an unmoving cloud of
uncertainty have dominated our lives for several
years. The speaking, training and consulting industry
has not been spared the pain of lost business. Even
drastically reduced fees are not incentives to make
the phone ring. I used to receive about six requests a
month to offer speeches pro bono but even those
requests have almost disappeared. How is that for your
ego?

When we lose our jobs and the sense of identity and
belonging that comes with them, we also risk losing
the awareness of our infinite potential for facing the
challenges of the new normal. Yet we have to seek not
only survival opportunities but also to use untapped
creativity with renewed energy, hope, and focus and
propel our personal goals and those of the
organization we work for to new heights.

You have to know that regardless of what you are going
through, you are way better off than millions of
people. Escape your “me” attitude and find ways to
help those who are in worse conditions than you are.

My shrinking business became secondary within a few
days after my arrival in a recent visit to Kenya. I
encountered a man with only two teeth, sunken eyes,
unkempt hair and clothes literally hanging on his
skeletal frame who opened his arms to hug me as he
asked, “Do you remember me?” I could not
recall ever seeing him in my life. After I confessed
with embarrassment that I didn’t, he told me his
name. He was one of my 7th grade best friends. I had
even informed him that I was leaving for the USA in
January 1986. Poverty had reduced him to a walking
object.

The following day I saw a 17 year-old high school
senior student who had been suspended from school
because he had an unpaid balance of tuition and fees
totaling $106. When I asked his mother what she
planned to do about it she said, “Nothing.” She and
her two sons receive about $50/month from her
working daughter for their sustenance. On February
2nd the Daily Nation newspaper reported a mother of
six who committed suicide because she lacked $250
her daughter needed to attend high school.

I am not a stranger to the vulnerabilities of life.
I had experienced the deaths of five younger
siblings by the time I turned forty. I know the deep
darkness of a dysfunctional polygamous family and
the humiliation of being labeled an underperformer
after spending six years in three grades. Yet the
suffering of families and the condition of my friend
forced me to question the meaning of life. My desire
to wake up declined and I experienced nightmares I
was not used to.

After weeks of carrying the burden of the emptiness
in life with prayers and fasting, it occurred to me
that if nothing was done, other mothers would kill
themselves, promising students would wind up in
wasted condition like my childhood friend and many
girls would turn their bodies into commercial
commodities of survival. I committed to seek help
for high school students who are orphans, children
of widows and those from very poor families. By the
end of April, I had secured financial support for
about 30 students (we have more in need).

What had brought deep darkness in my life became the
springboard I so needed to regain a sense of
purpose. Doing nothing is not a recovery plan when
things have gone wrong.

Help
someone in worse condition than you

Volunteer at any charity program that is important to you

When
at a restaurant buy a meal for a senior citizen

Teach
at risk students something that can help them

Volunteer to coach youth sports

Offer
free service to train seniors how to survive with technology

Ask
for help—this is not a sign of weakness

Write
down your experiences and expectations and share them with a
person that you know will encourage you

NOTE: You can have Dr. Kituku provide his
professional speeches and training to your
organization and raise funds to sponsor orphans,
children of widows and/or provide a means for
predictable livelihood for single mothers. Or
you can offer to sponsor a student. Sponsors
(those who commit a minimum of $250/year, but
any amount of contribution helps) get their
student’s name, photo, school name, the address
and principal’s contact (including phone
number). The $250 is 100% used for tuition and
fees while undesignated funds are used for
operational purposes.

When it happens, you remember it for the rest of your life. It is
a moment when you feel like you have been given a new lease on
your life. The cloud that has darkened your soul is lifted. You
have a rekindled hope. A focused sense of who you are regardless
of the prevailing circumstances. Your purpose in this world is
renewed. You can’t lie low any longer. You hold your head up once
again because there is a tomorrow to look forward to.

I was serving Eve of Thanksgiving dinner at the Boise
Rescue Mission when one of the Idaho’s elected officials happened to
be there with his wife. The director of the Men’s Program at Boise
Rescue Mission showed me a copy of the Mission’s Book that I wrote a
few years ago. In that book was a page with an old photo of the
elected official serving food at the Mission.

During a short break, I showed him the photo. His whole body responded
the way one reacts after meeting with a loved one who had disappeared
and left no hope for his coming back. With unreserved excitement, he
called his wife, “Honey, come see this!” As she was admiring his
youthful appearance of years gone by, he said, “Vincent, thank you for
showing me this photo. I came to serve food but left feeling like I
had a moment of self-redemption.”

Out of curiosity I asked him, “Why?” What he said and how he said it
left a mark in my heart. “Vincent, that moment occurred at the time I
was going through a divorce and I had just been arrested for DUI.”

His shining face explained what else he didn’t say in words.

As I drove home I recalled experiences of unexplained fulfillment even
when not assured of the next meal as I left a prison where my mother
had sent me to give some food to an incarcerated relative. That
experience reappeared in high school when I helped raise money for
youth activities or after teaching adults how to count from 1 to 10 or
to say their ABCs.

Serving meals for the homeless or visiting a
veteran or raking the yard for a senior citizen or doing anything
that brings hope to the young is the cheapest and yet most
effective way of not only learning the joy of living but living
your life
to the fullest.

Your
faith starts having a new meaning as your perspective of life
reaches new horizons.

You
can never suffer from low self-esteem when serving someone in
worse condition than yours.

You
experience an inward rejuvenation that an outward appearance can
never substitute for.

You
don’t have to be told what fulfillment means in life—you
experience it.

Your
desire to make your own life better becomes a natural thing.

Whatever challenges you are facing seem smaller when you compare
them with what the folks you serve are experiencing.

You
don’t have to spend a penny to know the meaning of a rich life.

You
don’t have to worry about your worthiness.

The
best gift you can ever give is your time.

You
experience the fullness of life that comes when your gain
outweighs what you give.

You
learn that doing a good thing makes you want to do more.

The moment the official experienced, and other such moments in life,
are the oil that keeps you young and provide the wings you need to
reach new heights of spiritual, personal and professional growth.
Those moments cost you nothing more than your willingness to bring
hope to a friend in need. And as strange as it sounds, you benefit in
ways that tangible rewards can’t pay for. You know the meaning of a
blessed life.

That official had served Thanksgiving dinners before. But when he did
it at one of his darkest time of life, that act brought a new meaning
to his life—again affirming that good deeds are rewarded.

100% of your
registration investmentwill be used to help pay tuition and fees for
orphans and children of widows (victims of AIDS) in Kenya who
are in
high school.

If I went back
to college again, I’d concentrate on two areas: learning to write and to
speak before an audience. Nothing in life is more important than the ability
to communicate effectively.

Gerald R. Ford. U.S. President.

How to never let fear of public
speaking stop opportunities from coming to you

Tips on speaking in ways all people
want to listen to you and act on what you say

How to speak well to get a job,
promotion or your colleagues’ respect

Why and how effective speaking will
change
your world

5 proven ways to create a platform image that
captivates audiences
all the time

Top must know steps on how to make each of your
presentations memorable

11 must know keys aspect that motivate audiences to
want to listen,
learn and act

Why and how to turn your fear of public speaking into
a rewarding possession

How to gather information and tailor it to relate with
your audience expectations

Organizing your information for maximum audience
learning experience

How to use your uniqueness and deliver presentations
skillfully

What, why and when to use visual aids and when not to

9 Must know tips that will help you avoid presentation
pitfalls

What stories, humor and props will add to your
presentation and how to use them as an expert!

Native of Kenya, Africa, and resident of
Idaho since 1992, Vincent has been a featured speaker
and trainer at numerous Real Estate conferences and
training programs. An award winning speaker and writer,
he is one of the less than 7% of all professional
speakers to earn a CSP (Certified Speaking
Professional), the highest award for professional
speakers. Dr. Kituku has worked with championship sports
teams and trained leaders on how to inspire productivity
all the time. What sets Vincent apart is his ability to
weave life experiences in Africa with corporate America
and culture in providing solutions for personal and
professional growth.

Dr. Vincent Muli Wa Kituku is known as a research-based
motivational speaker. He presents motivational keynotes
and training programs on leadership, employee
motivation, overcoming buffaloes at work (change),
customer service and living and working with cultural
differences. Vincent is the founder and president of
Kituku & Associates, LLC, a business that is dedicated
to developing leaders and employees in business and in
life.

What has set Dr. Kituku apart is the ability to use his
experience in research to evaluate/assess client needs
and then tailor his keynotes/training presentation to
meet their objectives. Harold G. Delamarter,
President/CEO, Prestige Care Inc. said, "Before the
Retreat, Dr. Kituku gained as much information as
possible about our company and the industry we are
involved in. He made telephone calls to management team
members to tailor his seminar very closely to the needs
of our employees and the circumstances they face each
day in the present economy. Dr. Kituku was so widely
received in July, the decision was made to ask him to
return to again present to our company in October."

Vincent's clients list includes Cisco Systems, Micron,
Hewlett Packard, Genworth Financial, US Fish and
Wildlife, US Air Force, Women Council of Realtors and
National Association of Mental Health. He has been the
motivational speaker for the successful Boise State
Football Team since 1998. Dr. Kituku works have been
featured by numerous publications including the
Presentations Magazine, SkyWest Magazine, National
Speakers Association Magazine and many newspapers which
publish his weekly columns. Vincent holds the Certified
Speaking Professional designation that is earned by
fewer than 7% of all speakers worldwide.

If results are important to you, then
Dr Vincent Muli Kituku is the speaker/trainer for your group.
Call
(208) 376-8724, or email Vincent directly at
Vincent@kituku.com

To unsubscribe (and Dr. Kituku is sorry to see you go), please visit [list_unsubscribe_link]
or go to
WWW.KITUKU.COM.
You can unsubscribe from the home page.SPECIAL NOTE: We learned that some emails were included in our list
by relatives
who
have enjoyed our newsletter. Please check with family and friends
before you request
us to
remove your email. Or write to us atKituku & Associates, 7761 W. Riverside, Ste 120, Boise, Idaho
83713